1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a support mechanism for the leg bottom section of a bed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Presently widely used medical and household beds are designed for allowing the back bottom section and the knee bottom section of each bed to be pivotally raised and lowered so that the bed user can be supported on the bed in his/her comfortable position in response to each case.
In each of the conventional beds, one end of the leg bottom section is pivotally rotatably connected with the knee bottom section, and the other end of the leg bottom section is kept supported on the support face of the bed frame or a pair of support stays are pivotally rotatably connected with the underside of the other end of the leg bottom section so that the support stays can support the leg bottom section above the bed frame.
For example, in JP 63-125213A, a pair of support stays are pivotally rotatably connected with the underside of the other end of the leg bottom section, and the opposite tips of the support stays are supported by a pair of support means installed on the bed frame so that the other end of the leg bottom section can be supported above the bed frame. The pair of support means consist of multiple pairs of engaging recesses disposed in the longitudinal direction of the bed frame and the height of the other end of the leg bottom section can be adjusted by fitting the opposite tips of the support stays into a pair of engaging recesses selected from the multiple pairs of engaging recesses.
FIGS. 13 to 18 typically show an example of the conventional support mechanism for the leg bottom section.
Symbol a indicates a bed frame, and one end of a knee bottom section b is supported by the bed frame a so that the knee bottom section b can be pivotally raised and lowered. Symbol c indicates a pair of boost arms pivotally rotatably supported by the bed frame a, and the boost arms c are connected with an actuator e via an action member d so that the actuator can be moved in the right/left direction in the drawings to pivotally raise and lower the knee bottom section b. One end of a leg bottom section f is pivotally rotatably connected with the other end of the knee bottom section b, and a pair of support stays g are pivotally rotatably connected with the underside of the other end of the leg bottom section f.
As shown in FIG. 13, the pair of support stays g are installed on the right and left sides in the transverse direction of the leg bottom section f, and the opposite tips of the support stays g are connected with each other by a connecting rod h. The near end portions of the connecting rod h beyond the opposite tips of the support stays g function as support portions i, and the extreme ends beyond the near end portions are cranked to form handle portions j. On the other hand, on the bed frame a, a pair of support members o, each having two engaging recesses m and n to be engaged with the support portions i in the longitudinal direction, are provided.